Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Yes, we did!

I voted yesterday, casting my ballot for Barack Hussein Obama. I waited in line for three hours. I didn't mind a moment of it.

I got a little misty-eyed when Obama won, I admit. It isn't that I think he's going to be a great president (I do, but there's reasons to hold reservations). It isn't that I think we've crossed some great racial divide. It's really because for the first time in a long time we've seen a grand and epic story unfolding before us.

He was an unlikely candidate and he handled everything thrown at him and his campaign with grace and integrity. He was a candidate representing aspects of America that we've been told for years aren't really part of America. He ran on a promise to reject the last eight, and to a certain degree, twenty-eight, years of American politics and introduce us to the government that is for, by and of us. And he won.

He won! He told America who he was and America accepted him as their president. After seeing eight years of the other side in power, the huge sense of relief that it was to see a progressive win brought me close to tears. Seeing that millions of others felt the same way? That's what pushed me over the edge.

I've dealt with melancholy from loneliness for a very long time. I feel the last few years have seen a lot of that ending, though. Socially, I have friends in the area again. Romantically, Anannya's been my saving grace. And now, seeing America's progressive thread, I don't feel a disconnect from what I consider my country. It's like being home again.